Franklin County, Columbus Rat Control Situation:
Thank you for all the extremely useful info on your site. I really appreciate your site and it is very informative. I was unable to find on your site a suggestion for my situation. I live in a day light basement. It's very nice, however there are rats between the upstairs floor of the house and my ceiling. My landlord spent 1600.00 with a company to seal off the house. Guess this did not work. I am starting to smell rat urine in the air. The upstairs reeks. Do you have a suggestion and is it harmful to be breathing this? I have an exterminator coming out to our home Monday. In the past couple of weeks we have been hearing and smelling offensive things. We found a few holes and then came the dropping under the stove and dishwasher and fridge. I am in full blown panic mode. Now I am worried about the cleanup of what's in the walls. I believe I read there is some type of "stuff" or bacteria that is safe and breaks down the feces? Is this true? Is there any way to ensure a sanitary home at this point?
Hi David, I live in a nice neighborhood [Columbus Ohio.] and solved my house rat problem [attic and crawl space just as you advise]. I have a motorhome stored by the side of my house and and had $1,700 worth of electrical wire damage 5 years ago. All damage was below the coach living quarters in wire runs which cross on top of fuel ,water, and sewage tanks. I have been able to isolate and close some of these spaces but not all. In addition the generator set box, room slide out space, and vented battery boxes do not lend themselves to isolation. I had one more instance of rat damage to wiring which I fixed myself 2 years ago. Anytime I see signs of rats I set multiple traps everywhere I can set them. I almost always catch one rat , never more. I have used have usd 8 trays of various repellants which I place at various previous rat sign locations. You list all of mine as useless and You are likely right. I could set traps permanently but they need to be checked , rebaited etc and at age 76 I'm getting damn tire of rolling around on a creeper under my motorhome with 1 1/2 ft of clearance to the house on the right side and 6" clearance to a fence on the left. Any suggestions ?
Columbus Rat Control Tip of The Week
Do Rats Bite Human Necks?
Rodents are omnivorous animals. Their diet is mainly based on seeds, insects, and small animals. In order to hunt, they usually bite their victims' neck to neutralize them and suffocate them until they finally die. Seeing this behavior, some people think that rats will also bite human necks, but this is extremely uncommon.
There are cases where a rat has bit a child's face, neck, and hands. This type of aggressive behavior is often seen when rodents feel that the child's movement could be a threat. On the other hand, sometimes this happens when children are dirty and have food remains on them, thus confusing the rodents.
Complications Of A Rodent Bite
A rat bite can hardly suffocate a human being, but it can have other serious complications produced by the bacteria they carry. Symptoms appear within 3 weeks after the bite when the infected wound heals.
An infectious disease can begin with increased body temperature and chills. Within 3 to 4 days after the onset of the fever, there could be rash, systemic damage to different organs such as heart or brain, and visible swelling of the lymph nodes.
Bites are not the only way a rodent can transmit diseases. Direct contact through scratches produced by infected rats is usually quite harmful as well. However, it is more common to become infected by ingesting food or water contaminated with an infected rats' feces or urine.
Pest control is necessary to look after one's own health and that of your entire family, including household pets. There are cases of domestic animals such as dogs and cats that, when biting rats, can also become contaminated with these diseases which can be deadly.
